This blog catalogues the reporting of ABC's "Religion Report" host, Stephen Crittenden and the questionable views and attitudes toward the Catholic faith and Catholic Church broadcast on his ABC program. The Religion Report describes itself as "...your guide to religious affairs in Australia and around the world...[offering] analysis of events shaping the world of religion..." If his program passes for analysis, then we should all get our 8c a day back.

What's it all about?

Well, you can read that in the header to this page.

We trying to redress the balance and put the other side.

Crittenden's Religion Report program, needs to be read with this corrective.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

"Catholic Women Priests" - an oxymoron in a make-believe world. But don't let that stop you...

Well last week we brought you the first women bishops of the Anglican church in Australia, and just as Kay Goldsworthy and Barbara Darling were being consecrated, the Vatican issued a decree stating that Catholic women who were ordained as priests will now incur automatic excommunication. It isn't clear just why this memorandum appeared when it did. [Shock horror, perhaps the Vatican actually wanted people to read it, Crittenden]

There have been Catholic women validly ordained as priests in the past. [Yep, he did say that, he did. We have to admit our ignorance as to this. If any readers can shed light on this, we would be fascinated. Knowing Crittenden's approach to things, we can bet London to a brick it is almost certainly incorrect. But we are happy to be prooven wrong] That was in Communist Czecholsovakia during an emergency, [I wonder what Crittenden says when Archbp Lefevre consecrated bishops against the express wishes of the Vatican because of a case of "necessity"] and after the emergency was over they were stood down. Other than that, wherever Catholic bishops have ordained women, those women always have been excommunicated.

We're joined now by Marilyn Hatton of OCW, leader of the movement for the Ordination of Catholic Women, here in Australia. [What, pray, is she going to tell us that we can't already guess?]

Marilyn, this document appears to have come out of nowhere; what's behind the timing do you think?

Marilyn Hatton: Well the timing I think is really it seems to me that they're a bit threatened, and they're a bit concerned that some of the bishops will actually start ordaining women. [Please, we're all quaking in our boots...]

Stephen Crittenden: May not hold the line.Marilyn Hatton: May not hold the line.Stephen Crittenden: Is there any evidence at all that that's happening?

Marilyn Hatton: There certainly is. Within Australia there is. There's half a dozen bishops that are certainly respectful of the position of ordaining women and we sent out our recent paper on the Ordination of Catholic Women, and we got responses from about eight of the bishops, and they were quite respectful responses. And some of them were saying that they agreed with all of that, but their hands were tied. [Perhaps they can go public, so they can be sacked?]

Stephen Crittenden: Your movement put out a statement in response to this memo from Rome, really addressed to the Australian Bishops; what are you saying to them?

Marilyn Hatton: Well we're saying to them please don't be fearful that if you all stood up and were counted on this issue and can any of those bishops stand before their God and say 'We think it just to continue at least some discussion of this', in light of the fact that the main issue is passing on the faith, and our organisation was founded about 15 years ago and its focuses were entirely with the ordination of Catholic women, but in the recent years, there's some urgency to look beyond that and say we should all be concerned about passing on the faith [which faith would that be, by the way? Not the Catholic sort] to future generations. And when the institutional church [By "institutional Church" you mean the Church Christ founded, don't you...] is actually alienating the parents who are very responsible for imbuing and passing on the faith. We run a big risk particularly with all the emerging church movements, of losing an enormous percentage of the population. [Well people pushing your brand of Roman Protestantism have done a remarkably good job at destroying the Catholic faith over the last 40, so why not finish it off]

Stephen Crittenden: Let's just talk about the situation of Catholic ordained women [Yes, according to Crittenden, such a thing exists] like there is such in practice overseas. Because I really understand Marilyn, that there are a number of Catholic women priests who've been ordained, they've paid the price, they've been excommunicated [whoa there, young fella, there's no such thing...has that escaped you?] but they go on ministering in some countries - tell us about that.

Marilyn Hatton: Those women ministers are women that you would be very respectful of. They've all had quite a deal of formation training, they all have degrees in theology and some philosophy. [Fine, but they are not priests, because they can't be. Duh! ]

Stephen Crittenden: I think some of the German women are quite serious theologians aren't they? [And?]

Marilyn Hatton: That's right and in Germany they have quite a large formation program for women priests. I think they have 120 women who have undertaken formation training and are ready to be ordained. [Not as Catholic, though]

Stephen Crittenden: So are we seeing the very first steps towards change of view on the ground? Are people just ignoring Rome or do these women find it pretty hard going? Have they got big congregations or small?

Marilyn Hatton: My understanding is that in America and Germany, there's quite large congregations of men and women who are progressive thinkers and who are wanting a God of love and respect and a practice of that in their lives.

Stephen Crittenden: And just paying no attention to Rome's excommunications?

Marilyn Hatton: That's it exactly. [Yes, that's it exactly. They make their own church, their own ministers, their own priests. Which is all fine. But, dont, please, don't call it the Catholic Faith they are preaching]